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UNAC Conference 2020 Rise Against Racism, Militarism and the Climate Crisis Building Power Together

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UNAC Conference 2020 Rise Against Racism, Militarism and the Climate Crisis Building Power Together UNAC Conference Journal and Website Compliments of Papillonweb Development, 2020 [email protected] UNAC Conference 2020 Rise Against Racism, Militarism and the Climate Crisis Building Power Together A National Conference Hosted by The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) February 21-23, 2020 at: The Peoples Forum 320 West 37th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues) New York, NY 10018 The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) has made great strides since its 2017 conference which was held in Richmond, Virginia. Since that time new organizations have joined our coalition. Our members have traveled as part of delegations to Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria and Cuba. We have held conferences on U.S./NATO military bases in Baltimore, Maryland and Dublin, Ireland. We have organized against the militarization of police departments, AFRICOM, and punishing sanctions against other nations. Our members prevented the illegal Venezuelan coup government from taking over the Washington embassy, while others walked picket lines with striking workers. In 2020 we mobilize against ecocide, white supremacist policy and war in all its forms. We gather to put the issue of peace before the voters in an election year and to protest against anti-immigrant policies. Our principles of unity will be strengthened as we gather to stop the wars at home and abroad. The UNAC conference will be a place where we deepen that unity and build the our movement for the next stage of struggle. Schedule Friday: 6:00 PM: Doors Open and Registration 7:00 PM: Panel: Opposing Imperialist Wars Moderator: Joe Lombardo Panelists: Bahman Azad, Ann Wright, Bernadette Ellorin, Camilo Mejia 8:30 PM: Cultural Event: Music with Aya Aziz Saturday: 9:30 - 11:30 AM Panel: Militarism, Racism and Climate Change Moderator: Cassia Laham Panelists: Jeff Mackler, Medea Benjamin, Diane Moxley, Jean Luc Pierite, Makasi Motema 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM Panel: Opposing Sanctions Moderator: Sara Flounders Panelists: Omowale Clay, William Camacaro, Susan Adely, Juyeon Rhee 1:30 - 2:30 PM Lunch /Speakers: Keynote: Glen Ford Updates: Scott Williams: RNC, Lana Akindes: DNC 2:30 - 4:00 PM Workshops: Ban Nuclear Weapons Alice Slater, Clare Grady, Carly Brook, Yasmeen Silva United State's Military's Role in Exacerbating Environmental Degredation Pippa Bartolotti, Diane Moxley, Alison Bodine Identifying U.S. Regime Change Campaigns (Venezuela, Syria, Iran, DPRK, Bolivia, Nicaragua) Kevin Zeese, William Camacaro, Jill Clark-Gollub, Nuri Ronaghy Utilizing the People(s)-Centered Human Rights Framework to Oppose Imperialist War Ajamu Baraka, Cheri Honkala 4:30 - 6:30 PM Panel: Defending our Movement Moderator: Margaret Flowers Panelists: Kevin Zeese, Michael Smith, Frank Chapman, Chip Gibbons/Mara Verheyden Hilliard, Pam Africa Schedule 6:30 PM Dinner 7:30 PM Evening Event on Palestine, Film:Gaza Fights for Freedom Intro: Enas al Saffadi, CodePink NYC Middle East Discussion: Abby Martin, Director Concurrent: Action Planning / Art Build for Sunday’s 4pm March to Greyhound NYC Youth Sunday: 9:30 - 11:30 AM Panel: Make Peace and Election Issue Moderator: Ajamu Baraka Panelists: Margaret Kimberley, Adrian Bonifacio 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Workshops: U.S. imperialism Creates Migration Crisis - Sanctions, Economic Dislocation, Border Crisis Organized by International Migrants Alliance Oppose US Wars Against China & Russia Sara Flounders, K.J. Noh, SiuHin Lee, Ray McGovern Seeing Through FOG of Propaganda - tools for analysis Margaret Kimberley, Judy Bello, Danny Haiphong Resisting Militarism in our Communities Frank Chapman, Kim Ortiz, Chairman Shaka Zulu 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Lunch with Panel Truth in the Face of Repression: Clare Grady, Moira Melzer-Cohen, Ray McGovern 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM: Points of Unity and Action Proposal Points of Unity: Jeff Mackler Action Proposals: Rhonda Ramiro, Taryn Fivel 3:30 PM Action: March to Port Authority Greyhound Terminal:ICE Off the Buses Motivation: Rosa de la Torres, Yousef Zakaria 4:00 PM March Begins UNAC Principles of Unity The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) fights against wars at home and abroad. Our goal is to bring together organizations and movements representing people in struggle today and unify in collective action against the major perpetrator of war and injustice in the world: the U.S. government, along with its allies and proxies. Principles of Unity: 1 - Opposition to all U.S. wars and interventions UNAC holds that the U.S. government, and the corporations it serves, are the major cause of conflict and misery in the world today. Wars are greenlighted with no debate and no end point in order to maintain U.S. hegemony over resources and because war is hugely profitable to the war industry. We do not recognize the right of Washington to militarily intervene anywhere in the world, for any reason. We oppose all U.S. wars, threats of war, proxy wars, blockades, sanctions, covert actions, cyberwars, drone wars, no-fly zones and any other interference in the internal affairs of other countries. We do not support the concept of “humanitarian intervention.” We call for the closing of all U.S. foreign bases, the elimination of all nuclear weapons, beginning with the U.S. arsenal and the transfer of trillions of tax dollars used to prepare for and conduct wars to meet domestic needs and provide reparations to the countries where the U.S. has caused human and material destruction. Abolish the war budget! Fund human needs not wars!. No to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, Iran, Syria, Cuba and all other nations subjected to what are effectively U.S. acts of war. 2 - Support for the right of all oppressed peoples to self-determination We support the right of all oppressed peoples, including colonized and formerly colonized countries, to determine their own road to liberation. The U.S government has no right to dictate to other countries what leaders, social or economic systems they can have. If the U.S. were to end its attempt to control the world, other peoples would be much more able to make whatever changes they see fit in their own countries. We do not have to agree with a targeted country’s leaders in order to oppose U.S. aggression against that country. As political activists in the heart of the Empire, our job is to oppose U.S. imperialism. In the particular case of Palestine, we support the right of the Palestinian people to determine their own future and we oppose any U.S. aid to the racist colonial, apartheid settler state of Israel. We support the Palestinian demand for a democratic, secular Palestine based on pre-1948 historic Palestine. This includes the right of return of all dispossessed Palestinians. Domestically, we support the right of oppressed communities to practice self-determination and decide for themselves how to build their own organizations. We welcome such organizations into our coalition. 3 - Connecting the Issues As the U.S. government seeks to continually reshape the world for the benefit of U.S. corporations, we all face endless imperialist wars and occupations that contribute to death, destruction and poverty around the globe. The system’s insatiable need for energy resources is a major cause of war that subjects us to environmental contamination and the horrors of global warming. The connection between the endless U.S. wars and the climate crisis is unmistakable with the Pentagon literally first in the world as an institutional polluter. Wars and climate change displace millions, producing the greatest refugee crisis in history. Here at home, wealth inequality has never been greater, yet the obscenely rich constantly strive to widen the gap while we pay for their murderous quest for riches by cuts to health care, education, housing, unemployment and low wages. Racism, colonialism and neocolonialism are necessary adjuncts to imperialist aggression. Racism, sexism, homophobia, LGBTQI discrimination and Islamophobia divide working people. Sexist exploitation, repression and violence against women are deeply ingrained in society at all levels and are used as tools of war. Further, a country engaged in endless predatory war inevitably itself becomes militarized. Domestic police forces now look and act like occupying armies. Drugs that originate in war-torn countries flood our communities, bringing violence and more suffering. UNAC opposes mass incarceration and the associated for-profit near slave labor prison-industrial complex, the domestic wars of police brutality and murders in low-income communities, especially communities of color; the wars against immigrants, Muslims, women, the LGBTQ community, low- wage workers and the environment, while explaining the connections between the wars at home and those abroad. It is only by linking all fronts of the same war that we can build a people's movement that has the power to achieve real peace and justice. We stand for the freedom of all political prisoners, including Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier and thousands of others who are victims of the racist and classist criminal injustice system. 4 - Independence from the parties of Big Business Here in the U.S., basic democratic rights won through bitter struggles are being steadily taken away through rigged elections, gerrymandering and the disenfranchisement of people of color, youth, ex- prisoners and more. Despite whatever differences may exist between the Republican and Democratic parties, they are both controlled by the same big banks, corporations and other financial institutions. They are both organized and function to defend the interests of the one percent. While UNAC affiliates are free to support any electoral candidate they choose, as a coalition we do not ally ourselves with the parties of war. 5 - Mass mobilizations as a primary means of struggle UNAC recognizes that there are many ways to fight for justice and peace and we support a wide range of tactics. At the same time, we understand that historically it has been independent mass mobilizations that have led to fundamental changes both here in the United States and in other countries.
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